Event #62: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha
Day 1 Completed
2020 GGPoker WSOP Online Bracelet Events
Event #62: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha
Day: 1
Event Info
Level 39
: 120,000/240,000, 0 ante
Yet another mixed tournament of the 2020 GGPoker World Series of Poker Online Bracelet Events has come to a thrilling conclusion and it was Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben who came out on top of a field of 990 entries in Event #62: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha. In a short-lived heads-up duel with Dorel "DorelEl" Eldabach, Ruben claimed the lion's share of the $1,410.750 prize pool as he walked away with the top prize of $220,160 and a package for the WSOPE.
Hailing from Hernando, Florida, Ruben has had 13 WSOP cashes and two Circuit cashes to his name prior to the online festival and most of them were either in Pot Limit Omaha or Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. After a hiatus of more than two years, Ruben cashed eight times during the ongoing festival on the GGNetwork and made his ninth result count as he earned the maiden WSOP bracelet in what appears to be his preferred poker variant.
Ruben has nearly $370k in recorded live cashes according to The Hendon Mob and this victory is his biggest score to date. Runner-up Eldabach is no stranger to the great game of PLO either as he has previously participated in PLO tournaments at the King's Resort and Casino in Rozvadov, host venue of the World Series of Poker Europe.
Final Result Event #62: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben | United States | $220,160* |
| 2 | Dorel "DorelEl" Eldabach | Israel | $168,478 |
| 3 | Jens "Tankanza" Lakemeier | Austria | $122,264 |
| 4 | Naman "pokermafiaa" Madan | India | $88,727 |
| 5 | Blaz "Sc4rm4k3r" Zerjav | Slovenia | $64,389 |
| 6 | Sami "YrttiDekaani" Kelopuro | Finland | $46,727 |
| 7 | Patrick "NeatDad1971" Serda | Canada | $33,910 |
| 8 | Tal "bonboni555" Peretz | Israel | $24,608 |
*the winner also receives a package for the World Series of Poker Europe
On a tough final table with several notables, Ruben steamrolled to victory after dispatching his final four opponents one by one in just over 40 minutes. Among the well-known names of the final showdown were Patrick "NeatDad1971" Serda, Sami "YrttiDekaani" Kelopuro, Blaz "Sc4rm4k3r" Zerjav and Jens "Tankanza" Lakemeier. The final table bubble saw Simon "FiestaPagana" Mattsson and Adam "MikePrice82" Hendrix bow out on separate tables to reduce field from ten to eight.
The seventh Pot Limit Omaha tournament of the festival on the GGNetwork once again attracted mixed game aficionados from all over the world and the field size grew by the minute during the registration period, which lasted for the first three and a half hours. An early carnage with plenty of re-entries ensured that just one third of the field remained when the prize pool information was finalized.
Many notables arrived and departed without anything to show for such as Alex Foxen, Roberto Romanello, Manig Loeser, Erik Seidel, Isaac Haxton, Fedor Holz, Hun Wei Lee, Yuri Dzivielevski, GGPoker ambassador Felipe Ramos, Sean Winter, Farid Jattin, Brandon Adams and Juha Helppi to name just a few. Another big name that came up short of the money was GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu.
Daniel Negreanu was eliminated before the money bubble by Kamal "hki23" Huseynov.
Frantic Post Bubble Period Reduces the Field Rapidly
Once the registration closed, it took under two hours to cut the remaining field into more than half and let the bubble burst. Among those to narrowly miss out on the min cash were Pascal Hartmann and Joshua "thefreshest" Mccully. It was then Kenneth "Forrest_Li" Edberg that got it in with double-suited kings against the double-suited ace-king-queen-nine of David "Mclovin86" Mzareulov, and an ace on the flop let the bubble burst.
It would not take long to see dozens of players head to the rail and collect their min cash, until the next scheduled break the first pay jump was notables such as Mike McDonald, Rainer Kempe, Chris Brewer, Mohsin Charania and Ludovic Geilich all ran out of chips. Ronny Kaiser was the first to earn more for his efforts and the Swiss high stakes player was soon joined by the likes of Shankar Pillai, Ami Barer, Gavin Cochrane, and Stephen Chidwick.
Despite the seriousness of the tournament stage, several players used the snap cam feature to show their instant reactions after big hands to the entire table, which was usually received with either table chat in return or the usage of the various available emojis.
The Portuguese poker pros Rui Ferreira and Joao Vieira also departed in quick succession and Sami "YrttiDekaani" Kelopuro slowly but surely established himself at the top of the leaderboard as the final six tables were reached. Natural8 ambassador Thai Ha and 2020 WSOP Online Bracelet winner Simon Lofberg saw their hopes of an even deeper run vanish, as did Mark Herm, Stefan Huber, and Benjamin Juhasz.
The elimination of Mark "Beanboozled" Herm came in spectacular fashion when his full house on the river was beaten by a turned straight flush.
Patrik Antonius was one of the high-profile casualties in the late stages of the tournament and PLO bracelet winner Craig Varnell also hit the rail on the final three tables. The action barely slowed down as GGPoker streamer Michiel "Easterdamnz" Van Elsacker was quickly followed to the rail by Christian Rudolph. Andriy "smbcall911" Lyubovetskiy fell victim to the hot run of Dorel "DorelEl" Eldabach and two eliminations on separate tables then set up an eight-handed final table.
Ruben Dominates Late Stages of the Final Table
Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben was on the verge of elimination on the final two tables but secured a vital double before they combined to one table. He remained near the bottom of the leaderboard for some time whereas Patrick "NeatDad1971" Serda went from chip leader with eight left to 7th place finisher in under 40 minutes.
Ruben doubled through Kelopuro when he flopped a set of tens and then chipped up without showdown to take over the lead. For the highly accomplished Finn, the end came soon after when he busted to Blaz Zerjav.
It was the last elimination on the final table that didn't involve Ruben directly as he shifted gears and won almost every single big pot that mattered. Ruben doubled Naman "pokermafiaa" Madan only to make up for it right after by knocking out Zerjav. Madan, however, gave all his chips to Ruben in a three-bet pot when his kings ran into a set of queens. Not even 20 minutes later Ruben had accumulated all the chips of Lakemeier and Eldabach to earn his maiden WSOP bracelet.
That wraps up the PokerNews live updates for this event but the next WSOP Online bracelet event is just around the corner.
Pot Limit Omaha Bracelet Winners During the Festival So Far
| Event | Buy-In | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Top Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event #35: $5,000 PLO Championship | $5,000 | 328 | $1,558,000 | Juha Helppi | Finland | $290,286 |
| Event #37: $1,050 Bounty PLO | $1,050 | 971 | $971,000 | Hun Wei Lee | Australia | $161,886 |
| Event #40: $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha | $2,500 | 532 | $1,263,500 | Simon Lofberg | Sweden | $224,493 |
| Event #42: $400 PLOSSUS | $400 | 4356 | $1,637,856 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | $221,557 |
| Event #51: $400 Pot Limit Omaha | $400 | 2005 | $753,880 | Eoghan O'Dea | Ireland | $100,945 |
| Event #53: $800 Double Stack PLO | $800 | 831 | $631,560 | Frank Crivello | United States | $94,253 |
| Event #62: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha | $1,500 | 990 | $1,410,750 | Bradley Ruben | United States | $220,160 |
Level 39
: 120,000/240,000, 0 ante
The heads-up duel merely lasted half a dozen hands as Dorel "DorelEl" Eldabach won a few chips to then clash in a big pot with Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben. Eldabach three-bet the pot out of the big blind and once Ruben called, Eldabach bet the pot for more than 3.3 million on the 
flop and called all-in for fewer than that behind when Ruben min-raised.
Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben: 
Dorel "DorelEl" Eldabach: 
The kings of Eldabach were in a fragile lead and he also had to fear tens and fives when the 
appeared on the turn. What followed was the 
on the river which improved Ruben to the nut flush and ended the duel moments after it had actually started.
Eldabach has to settle for the runner-up spot which comes with a payday of $168,477.54 while Ruben has earned his first WSOP Online bracelet and a top prize of $220,159.60.
A full recap of today's action is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
24,750,000
7,611,821
|
7,611,821 |
|
Busted |
Level 39
: 120,000/240,000, 0 ante
Jens "Tankanza" Lakemeier made it 504,000 to go from the button once more and Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben three-bet the pot to 1.752 million and that was called by Lakemeier. As the flop fell 
, Ruben bet the pot and Lakemeier called all-in for less than that.
Jens "Tankanza" Lakemeier: 
Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben: 
Lakemeier had flopped a pair and straight draw along with two backdoor flushdraws. However, the turn took away a lot of his outs and the 
river was too little too late for the German poker pro and Austria resident. Lakemeier has bowed out in 3rd place and takes home $122,264.05.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
17,138,179
3,097,896
|
3,097,896 |
|
|
7,611,821
597,200
|
597,200 |
|
|
Busted |
Level 39
: 120,000/240,000, 0 ante
Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben won four pots in a row and then the two shorter stacks were at it again.
Jens "Tankanza" Lakemeier opened the button to 504,000 and Dorel "DorelEl" Eldabach called from the big blind. Eldabach check-called 338,400 on the 
flop and they checked the 
turn. Eldabach bet the 
river for 301,440 and was called to flip over 
for a flush with the nine-six, Lakemeier held 
for an inferior flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
14,040,283
1,968,000
|
1,968,000 |
|
|
7,014,621
-173,360
|
-173,360 |
|
|
3,695,096
-1,794,640
|
-1,794,640 |
Level 39
: 120,000/240,000, 0 ante
Jens "Tankanza" Lakemeier won a pot against chip leader Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben but all of his profit then vaporized when he was involved in a battle of the blinds with Dorel "DorelEl" Eldabach.
Eldabach min-raised and then bet the 
flop and the turn for 394,200 and 676,767 respectively. Lakemeier called both times but folded the river when Eldabach made it 1,919,191 to go.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
12,072,283
-1,872,000
|
-1,872,000 |
|
|
7,187,981
2,150,967
|
2,150,967 |
|
|
5,489,736
-278,967
|
-278,967 |
Level: 39
Blinds: 120,000/240,000
Ante: 0
Level 38
: 100,000/200,000, 0 ante
Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben raised it up to 420,000 in the cutoff and Naman "pokermafiaa" Madan three-bet to 1.56 million from one seat over. Ruben made the call as they headed to the flop, on which Ruben checked. Madan bet the pot for 3.42 million and called the shove of Ruben for the 1,021,664 he had behind.
Naman "pokermafiaa" Madan: 
Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben: 
Ruben had flopped top set with a straight draw as Madan was on thin ice and in need of a king. The changed nothing whatsoever on the turn and the 
river sent Madan out in 4th place for $88,727.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
13,944,283
7,942,619
|
7,942,619 |
|
|
5,768,703
-2,173,916
|
-2,173,916 |
|
|
5,037,014
-1,031,689
|
-1,031,689 |
|
Busted |
Level 38
: 100,000/200,000, 0 ante
Just when it appeared that Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben may run away with a decent lead, he found resistance by the final three opponents and especially Naman "pokermafiaa" Madan was willing to put his chips in with a three-bet.
Dorel "DorelEl" Eldabach also earned back-to-back pots and suddenly the lead of Ruben was no longer as big.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,942,619
1,373,916
|
1,373,916 |
|
|
6,068,703
2,751,689
|
2,751,689 |
|
|
6,001,664
-4,380,955
|
-4,380,955 |
|
|
4,737,014
-744,650
|
-744,650 |
Level 38
: 100,000/200,000, 0 ante
Blaz "Sc4rm4k3r" Zerjav raised it up for the minimum from under the gun and Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben three-bet th 1.5 million on the button. Zerjav made the call and they headed to the 
flop on which Zerjav check-called all-in for 2,566,855.
Blaz "Sc4rm4k3r" Zerjav: 
Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben:
Zerjav's open-ender could also catch a seven to improve but instead the 
turn and river kept the aces of Ruben in the lead. The Slovenian has to settle for 5th place which comes with a payout of $64,389.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
10,382,619
5,246,855
|
5,246,855 |
|
|
6,568,703
200,000
|
200,000 |
|
|
5,481,664
-300,000
|
-300,000 |
|
|
3,317,014
-300,000
|
-300,000 |
|
Busted |